U.S. Department of Justice intervenes in Redwood Christian caseAug 16, 2002
The U.S. Department of Justice today intervened in the case of Redwood Christian
Schools v. County of Alameda . We have obtained a copy of their "Memorandum
in Support of the Constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act of 2000," (PDF format, 110K) and have posted it on two of our
websites, www.becketfund.org and www.rluipa.com .
Redwood Christian, which is represented by The Becket Fund and local attorneys
Roger and Mark Gaither, filed suit against Alameda County last November after
the County refused to grant it a permit to build a new school on land it purchased
for that purpose in Castro Valley. The complaint (PDF format, 334K) charges
multiple violations of the U.S. and California Constitutions, and of the Religious
Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), passed by Congress and
signed into law by then-President Clinton in September 2000.
In a May filing with U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California,
Alameda County argued that RLUIPA exceeds the authority of Congress under the
Commerce Clause, and that it violates the Tenth Amendment and the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment as well. The Justice Department brief states that
the County's argument "is without merit." It notes that "the
only court thus far to consider the constitutionality of RLUIPA's land use provisions
rejected the same arguments the defendants offer here, and held that RLUIPA
'faithfully codifies' existing Free Exercise, Establishment Clause and Equal
Protection rights against states and assemblies." That case, Freedom Baptist
Church v. Township of Middletown , was brought by The Becket Fund, and attorneys
for The Becket Fund and the Department of Justice both argued on behalf of the
constitutionality of RLUIPA in the federal court hearing the case.
Much more information about the Redwood Christian Schools case can be found
on our websites. A hearing on our motion for partial summary judgment will be
held in the court of U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti in San Francisco on September
27, 2002.
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